18-Year-Old Woman Shot In Leg On Way To School

WASHINGTON (WUSA) -- A D.C. high school student is recovering after being shot and robbed while she was walking to school Tuesday morning. The suspect is still at large.

The 18-year-old was shot on Morris Road in Anacostia around 8:45 Tuesday when the suspect approached her, shot her in the leg, and then took off with her book bag.

The teenager is a senior at Phelps Architecture, Construction and Engineering High School. DC police say she was carrying a black laptop bag, but inside there was no computer, only books.

Police found the bag a few blocks away. But the suspect was long gone.

9News's Kristin Fisher reports that for Victoria Johnson -- who heard the gunshots right outside her window -- this was her first night in the neighborhood.She'd just moved her with her two kids.

"Am I sure that I wanted to bring my two children here? 'Cause we could have stepped out and a bullet hit us this morning," she said. "You do this at this time of morning. There are kids, families, people going to work, kids going to school, anybody could have gotten hurt in this. Anybody."

Last September, a high school junior was shot and killed while walking to school just a few miles away in District Heights. His killer is still out there. But so far, D.C. police say there's no connection, and say there is not anything definitively linking it to any other case at this point.

As police search for the shooter, Victoria hopes that this can be a lesson for her own kids.

"You know, to see what the reality is of life and to be able to stay away from it and stay out of trouble," she said.

Police say the suspect is as a black male who was wearing a red jacket with white stripes on the sleeves.

Anyone with information about him or about this case is asked to D.C. Police at.

The school did not name the student, but say her injuries were non life-threatening and that the student was taken to the hospital.

The shooting happened at 1435 Morris Road SE at approximately 8:45 a.m.Police say a woman reported that her 18-year-old daughter was shot on her way to school and her black school bag was taken from her.

The suspect is described as a black male wearing a face mask and a red jacket.